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Michael S. Heiser is yet another "scholar" who gets it wrong on John 1:1 at https://drmsh.com/of-yehovah-and-jehovahs-witnesses/
Here he states that “the Word was a god” in the New World Translation Bible is only translated that way because of "the absence of the definite article before the Greek word theos ('God'; 'god')."
He even provides a graphic that shows other mentions of the word "god" in John 1, with and without the article.
When we look closer at this graphic we see that most of the mentions of "god" without the article are in the genitive case, and the genitive is the case of possession (from god; of god) and requires no article. The only exception is John 1:18, which, like John 1:1 has two mentions of "god." John 1:18 also differentiates between the two gods. The first mention is of a god that "no one has ever seen." Since Jesus has been seen, he cannot be that god. The second mention of god here is MONOGENHS QEOS (an only-begotten god) which Heiser incorrectly translates as "the only god."*
What he, and so many others fail to grasp is the uniqueness of John 1:1c. The second god mentioned is said to WITH "the god." You cannot be the same god that you are WITH. The second god mentioned is also an anarthrous (lacking the definite article) predicate nominative that precedes the verb. What is a predicate nominative? A predicate nominative (or predicate noun) completes a linking verb (is, are, was etc) and renames the subject. When you look up predicate nominatives in English in a search engine you will most often get examples that use the indefinite article "a."
Mr. Johanson is a teacher.
http://www.dailygrammar.com/Lesson-105-Predicate-Nominative.htm
John was a policeman.
https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/predicate_nominative.htm
The Turn of the Screw is a famous Henry James novel.
https://www.k12reader.com/term/predicate-nominative/
The guava is a fruit.
https://www.thoughtco.com/predicate-nominative-1691657
Sarah is a great friend.
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/predicate-nominative-and-predicate-adjective/
So it is common to use the indefinite article with a predicate noun in English.
Since the construction at John 1:1c is also a (pre-verbal) predicate nominative without the definite article, we can add an "a" there as well. The Gospel of John has other examples of pre-verbal anarthrous predicate nominatives, over half of which are translated with the indefinite article "a." For example:
John 4:19 has PROFHTHS EI SU which translates to: "you are a prophet."
John 6:70 has DIABOLOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slanderer."
John 8:34 has DOULOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slave."
John 8:44 has ANQRWPOKTONOS HN which translates to "a murderer."
John 8:44 has EUSTHS ESTIN which translates to "he is a liar."
John 8:48 has SAMARITHS EI SU which translates to "you are a Samaritan."
John 9:8 has PROSAITHS HN which translates to "as a beggar."
John 9:17 has PROFTHS ESTIN which translates to "He is a prophet."
John 9:24 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "is a sinner."
John 9:25 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "he is a sinner."
John 10:1 has KLEPTHS ESTIN which translates to "is a thief"
John 10:13 has MISQWTOS ESTIN which translates to "a hired hand."
John 12:6 has KLEPTHS HN which translates to "he was a thief."
John 18:35 has MHTI EGO IOUDAIOS EIMI which translates to "I am not a Jew, am I?"
John 18:37 has BASILEUS EI SU which translates to "So you are a king?"
John 18:37 also has BASILEUS EIMI EGW which translates to "I am a king."
Notice the indefinite article "a" is inserted here in most Bibles, in all of these examples, even though the Greek does not have an indefinite article.
It had to be added because the English, and common sense (just as at John 1:1) demands it.
*The Greek already has a word for "only," it is MONOS. In the New Testament, monogenes is used in a filial way, one that is used for offspring...see Thayers Greek Lexicon & BAGD. In fact the BAGD states that it could be analogous to prototokos (firstborn). There are about 58 proper names in Greek built on the "genes" stem, like Diogenes, which means "born of Zeus" or Hermogenes ("born of Hermes). These are names given by parents to their offspring that represents birth. (See https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-greek) There are also words like theogenes which means "born of God." Though there are exceptions, "the word monogenes is used most basically and frequently in contexts having to do with biological offspring." Charles Lee Irons (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary)
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